Apprentices Lumi, responsible for light placement, and Holly, focused on toy aesthetics, investigate the growing silence beneath the Great Evergreen. They observe that the Gray Fade is escalating from mere fading to active conceptual consumption, evidenced by a patch of pure, odorless void erasing the earth near the light pedestal. Recognizing this as a direct attack on the season's foundational light source, Lumi deduces that surface-level countermeasures will fail against this aggressive nullity. She proposes a high-risk, unsanctioned mission into the restricted Vault of Fixed Points within the Grand Repository, rumored to hold artifacts representing absolute, unchangeable truth, believing only such an anchor can counter the active erasure threatening the Evergreen's power source. Holly agrees, setting the stage for a journey into the deepest archives.